There are lots of cabins of all standards up to having a spa in the unit. We didn't check any of these out as we didn't get to know anyone staying in them as we were a fair walk away.

Dogs are allowed on a leash although we saw quite a few roaming around. During the peak Xmas time they do require a $50 good behaviour bond for each dog. You lose it instantly if your dog is found off its lead or somebody moans about your pet. Fair enough!  Doggie Doo bags are freely supplied - an excellent idea and we saw very little dog mess. We noticed lots of recreational parks in Victoria had dispensers for these and it would be great if this idea caught on in the rest of Oz.

Fires are allowed anywhere on the ground and excellent round logs are supplied FREE as well as some small building off cuts. You need a block splitter though for most of these except the off cuts. Nothing light is supplied and we saw quite a few trees being used as fire starters. In our opinion more fixed fireplaces could perhaps be a better option, as many campers dug deep holes during our stay and this degrades the area and is dangerous due to very low lighting levels at night particular around the amenities. There are about half a dozen really good steel BBQs and these get moved from site to site by campers - but that's it!. The main camp kitchen is totally inadequate and has two electric BBQ's charging an horrific $1 a go! It has two tiny four seater tables and a good sink - that's it folks!

Oddly enough flies are not too much of a problem possibly because the nearest cattle are miles away and the garbage is religiously collected daily. We couldn't help but notice that more time is spent separating and collecting bottles than on cleaning the amenities! But mozzies are DREADFUL! Come with heaps of repellent as it is expensive locally if you prefer the natural varieties. Bushman for instance was $10.95. We also used those cute citronella candles in the little green tin mugs from Bunnings around $4. The mossies were at their worst in the immediate camp area. Walking into Wooli there are very few and round at Minnie Water oddly about nil! The extremely friendly locals use citronella oil in old Hurricane lamps and burn them all day. Sandflies weren't a problem either except early morning and, of course, on the park riverbank. This might be because you usually get a late afternoon shower of rain each day.

Canoes are available for hire at the fantastically cheap rate of $8 per half day - you do need to book in advance as it is popular. There is a very rough basic attempt at a mini golf course next door, but we were turned right off that by what looks like an overflow from a sullage tank being sprayed on the adjacent lawn. Others may have felt the same as we never saw a soul using it during our entire stay. The fishing here is quite excellent. A trip down to the wharf lets you see what's there to catch without a boat even! The river is navigable for 20kms upstream with not a house in sight, as it is all within a national park and state forest. With some sites you can quite literally throw a line in from your campsite. Now there's not many places you can say that about.

The park has a lot of permanents and weekender/annual vans. First impressions of the park are bad as they have permanents lining the front boundary and some are pretty shonky dwellings. However once inside with your A'van there are lots of spots where all you see is the natural beauty of the bush and river. The worst eyesore in the park is the van storage area. It is a mess that could be perhaps fixed simply by growing a screen of bamboo, then at least mowing the area and throwing out all the extensive rubbish littering the place.

Mobile phones are very iffy here. Telstra GSM has nothing. Telstra CDMA has half a bar if you stand on a table near the new amenities ONLY and tends to drop out. Optus works great on two bars anywhere in the park. There are two Telstra phones just outside on the main road. Lighting is sparse and the park settles down early at night, but rises very early. At one stage though we had dreadful neighbours who were very noisy right up to midnight. TV reception is brilliant for all channels except 2 with an Explorer C10 aerial. With just "rabbit ears" you can get some reception, but zero channel 2. We had A'vanner friends with us so it was easy to get a comparison. There is a fantastic FM radio station on 639 playing very restful middle of the road music with minimal advertising. This kept working almost back up to Ballina.

We expected a lot more wildlife as described in the camp brochure. All we saw was bird life. Some afternoons had bell birds which was lovely. However on the road in we did see several brumbies. Still on brochures, the Wooli/Minnie Water leaflet lists lots of businesses that no longer exist such as coffee lounges and tea rooms! Interestingly all retail businesses bar two are on the market in Wooli. Why is this so? The main claim to fame for Wolloi would have to be the Goanna Pulling Competition! This is held on Easter Sunday, and the aim of the contest is for two very strong people to be on their hands and knees with a leather strap over their heads, and on the command go, they start pulling away from each other, then for the next few days the contestants make appointments with the local chiropractors, strange place this Wooli!

Few traders call on the park. Mr Whippy comes daily and Home Ice-cream on Tuesday and a great fruit and veggie man comes around lunchtime on Thursdays. Shop wise you don't really need to leave the area - remember Grafton is a 120kms return trip so shopping more than once a week is a killer petrol wise if you are on a tight budget. Fuel by the way was most surprisingly almost the same as the highway at the BP - wonderful stuff Wooli. Right next door to the park is a servo with a nice little general store and takeaway. They tried to diddle a neighbour's change by $10! A pizza shop opens Friday/Sat/Sunday from 5:30pm - medium around $9 and very tasty too. Believe it or not there is even a local butcher within two minutes of the park, but range is very limited, however pricing is very good. Next to this is a pub/motel with good counter lunches and a bistro. Moving down the road about one and a bit kilometres and mostly bush, brings up two more general stores (no credit cards) and a fish co-op and an oyster shop. Now if seafood is your weakness get here FAST! The co-op have whole bream at $8! During our stay we lived on mackerel cutlets we cooked in a dash of marg with garlic! King prawns were $22 a kg. Cooked crabs make a great lunch at just $2 each! Local oysters are a dream come true and $5 a dozen unopened! Watch out though as both these places close at 4 PM - probably so they can go fishing! The fish co-op is not open at all on weekends and they "disappear" for a while around lunchtime!. It is a charming very laid back seaside village. Don't let the fishy smell of these places put you off - remember that they are really factories. The locals told us that no local shops sell the local fish cooked - they use frozen which is a gigantic shame. All the more reason to do what we did and cook your own - far healthier too. We gained no weight during our ten days here despite eating very hearty meals - pun intended!

Bear in mind this is a fairly remote fishing village. About the last thing you would expect to find is a Chinese Restaurant! Yes "Harry's" is there in all its glory of all places inside the bowling club. Yes we were naughty and had a couple of visits. Our favourite dish was seafood in a potato basket. Mains average $14, but service is very good, meals were hot and very tasty! Oddly two other bowls clubs in the general area also sported Chinese restaurants! Are we missing something?

The park is not on a surf beach, but at night you can easily hear the surf. You can walk along a fire trail to the west of the park entrance and you will eventually get there. There is no way you can call this a short jaunt, but nevertheless a very pleasant walk. Dogs not allowed though. There is an excellent very wide concrete bikeway that goes all the way from the park to the village proper. This is also a good walking path, but use it early in the day as there is little overhead shade. The very active Progress Association have very thoughtfully provided little seats about every two hundred meters along the path. Wooli itself is actually on an isthmus with the river on one side and the surf on the other. There are lots of riverside picnic areas with covered tables - toilets are light on, but what's there are immaculately clean and all have basins. The council have done an absolutely magnificent job in this area in keeping grass well mown and we saw hundreds of new plantings - in a word - tidy.

The best walking is well away from the camp by car. Pop out to Minnie Water or Diggers Camp as both have great walks. You can drive on the beaches without a permit. In fact you can take the family sedan down on to the beach at Minnie Water near the shop. Give this a go if you have kiddies as it could be a bit of a novelty for them. Just about impossible to get stuck toooooo!

"No Camping" signs are everywhere in Wooli except the sports oval, so we suggest you give free camping a big miss. You can, of course, legally camp for free in the State Forest on the way in, but this is 30 kms back. There is also a very active dog catcher, but there are no signs up about leashes in Wooli! The ultra friendly locals tipped us off!

They are many alternative parks in the immediate area, BUT this one is your only option if you have a dog. In the Wooli township itself is a very old council park, but with very modern amenities right on the river, and it really is in an idyllic, take your breath away position. Almost all the best spots are taken by permanents, but it is not tooooo ugly as the views are so appealing. On page 94 of the June 2001 Caravan and Motorhome there is a very nice picture of an A'van parked looking straight at the river. There are three waterfront tourist sites and these were vacant in late January, but were taken on Australia Day 2001. There is a launching ramp directly across the road. The hazard with this sort of park is that it is mainly boaties who get up at the crack of dawn! To give you some idea of layout it consists of three rows running parallel with the river - yes there are nice little sandy beaches ideal for kiddies and very safe swimming. The water is as clear as you can get. It is at its best early in the morning and if you are into photography the reflections are perfection. What a way to start the day! We used to walk down to the river past the village around 6:30AM, fruit for breakfast, have a long swim with the dogs and walk back around 11 ish. By this time there was generally a cooling sea breeze for the walk home. Around at the next village there is a more modern park at Minnie Water, but it is still a good walk to the beach.